Jewish Treats

Birkat Hamazon

Have you ever forgotten to tip the waiter after eating at a restaurant? Probably not, because that’s society’s conventional manner of thanking the wait-staff. While we do not usually have…

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Eikev,Weekly Message

Eikev 5782-2022

“Is There Truth to the Notion of Spiritual Accountability?” (updated and revised from Eikev 5763-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s Torah portion, parashat Eikev, contains…

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Jewish Treats

Symbolic Foods

Since Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment, it is customary to eat simanim*, foods with symbolic meanings that invoke God’s blessing. We also recite a short prayer before eating them.…

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Jewish Treats

Vanity of Vanities

Most people are unknowingly familiar with the beginning of the third chapter of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) because of the 1965 hit song by The Byrds: “To everything – turn, turn, turn/There…

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Jewish Treats

The Great Hoshana

Rosh Hashana is known as the Day of Judgment (Yom Hadin), the day on which God judges every person. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the day on which God finalizes His verdict on the…

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Jewish Treats

Hail the Holy Pomegranate

The pomegranate is a funny sort of fruit. Rather than eating the flesh and throwing away the seed, as a person does when eating an apple or orange, pomegranate seeds are eaten and the…

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Jewish Treats

The Bird of Thanks

On Thanksgiving Day, it is customary in the United States to eat a turkey dinner. The Hebrew word for turkey is “tar’negol hodu,” literally, an “Indian Rooster.” It came by this name…

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Jewish Treats

This Tomato Was Grown Where?

The view of Judaism is that humankind has the unique ability to synthesize the physical and the spiritual elements of life. Hence, Jewish law requires Jews to recite a blessing over food…

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Jewish Treats

Chanukah Yum

While Jewish holidays are often known for their food, most of these foods are not known for being particularly healthy. Chanukah is no exception. Forget matzah or apples, those are…

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Jewish Treats

Thoughts for the Heart

In honor of American Heart Month, and because caring for one’s health is part of two Torah mitzvot of "V’nish’martem me’od l’naf’sho’tay’chem" and "hatzalat n’fashoat" (guarding and…

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